THE St George's Church, the oldestAnglican church in Southeast Asia, was completed in 1818 on the initiative of the Penang Colonial Chaplain, Rev R S Hutchings, who also founded the Penang Free School. It was consecrated on May 11, 1819 by the Bishop of Calcutta, Thomas Fanshawe Middleton. On July 6, 2007, it was declared one of the 50 National Treasures of Malaysia by the Malaysian government.